we begin with negotiations to avert the so-called fiscal cliff both republicans and white house hold their lines and no formal talks yesterday. president obama said he wasn't ruling out some reductions in entitlement programs such as medicare and social security, meanwhile house speaker john boehner has to win over hard liners in his own party. susan mcginnis is following it all. >> reporter: hi. good morning. there are some glimmers of common ground here among the two sides that could form the basis of a deal. the president is now talking about actually lowering the tax rate for the top 2% not now but later. and republicans are now taking some heat over their latest plan a lot of it from within their own party. >> five, four -- >> reporter: house speaker john boehner led the countdown to the lighting of the capitol hill christmas tree last night. >> one. >> reporter: but a different countdown weighs on the minds of these lawmakers, the countdown to the fiscal cliff. a series of tax increases and spending cuts due to kick in at the end the year. >> god bless us, everyone. >> reporter